054. The Butler, Peerless
The Butler, Peerless (その執事、比類, Sono Shitsuji, Hirui) is Chapter 54 of the Kuroshitsuji manga. Summary Ciel Phantomhive, Elizabeth Midford, and Snake are in shock as dozens of coffins move and Bizarre Dolls climb out of them. Meanwhile, Sebastian Michaelis continues to battle with Ronald Knox. Ronald compliments Sebastian, saying he is as good as he is rumored to be. Sebastian replies by giving thanks. Ducking Sebastian's punch, Ronald abruptly looks at his watch and says it is almost time. He hastily makes his way to the exit, saying he is not supposed to be dawdling and is not planning to write an apology letter for being tardy. Ronald says his farewell, calling Sebastian by his despised nickname of "Sebas-chan". Sebastian is left alone, perturbed by Ronald's sudden withdrawal from battle. In the bottom freight storage, Ciel tells Elizabeth to run as the Bizarre Dolls pursue them from behind. They, however, blocked the front of the exit as well. Ciel manages to shoot one Bizarre Doll through the head as they become increasingly cornered by the abhorrent Bizarre Dolls. Ciel tells Elizabeth to get on top of the pieces of luggage. As she climbs, Ciel notices that he is outnumbered. One Bizarre Doll suddenly attacks him from behind, but he is saved by one of Snake's snakes. He turns to see all the Bizarre Bolls temporarily bound by snakes, and Snake grabs Ciel from above the luggage. Ciel realizes that the Bizarre Dolls cannot climb up the luggage. Snake notes that his snakes' poison is not affecting them and that the corpses have a detestable, putrid stench. He determines that the Bizarre Dolls do not seem to have any intelligence, sense, sight, or pain, for they did not react to the snakes at all, much less tried to shake them off. He also says that, if they had any intelligence, they would have headed upstairs where more "food" is. Ruling those out, Ciel concludes that the Bizarre Dolls must rely on their sense of hearing, and they could use that as an advantage to distract them. To test the theory, Snake threw a plate in a different direction. The Bizarre Dolls ignore the crash from the plate and continue to surround the luggage, proving the sound distraction as futile. As Ciel analyzes how the Bizarre Dolls are able to follow them, the luggage that they are sitting on begins shaking and they realize that the Bizarre Dolls are eating away at it with their teeth and nails. Snake says he cannot stop them with his snakes since there are too many Bizarre Dolls. Ciel anxiously wonders why Sebastian's "playtime" is taking so long and hugs Elizabeth, saying he would protect her at least, no matter what happens. Sebastian appears, throwing knives at the Bizarre Dolls and musing how admirable it is of Ciel to speak how an English gentleman is supposed to. Ciel orders Sebastian to stop procrastinating and destroy all the Bizarre Dolls. Sebastian runs toward the Bizarre Dolls, mentioning that it is not very stylish of him but, if destroying their heads is enough, he will settle for smashing their heads in the quickest way to eradicate them. He does so as Ciel watches in awe, reminiscing how Sebastian is killing them so brutally, describing the scene as "splattering crimson, a dancing demon", is the same as when he was being freed from slavery. He then corrects himself, saying it is not the same, as this time, he is outside of the cage. Ciel thinks to himself that his butler is not killing the ones who soiled him, that "Ciel" is not here anymore, and that he is the Earl of Phantomhive, that he is solely himself before Elizabeth distracts him. He realizes that he is panting and clenching Elizabeth's shoulder. Sebastian smiles up at Ciel, informing him that he is done, surrounded by blood and the Bizarre Dolls' devastated bodies. Ciel looks in horror as Sebastian tells him to come, raising his bloodstained gloves. Ciel climbs down the luggage halfway by himself, telling Sebastian not to touch him with those filthy hands. Sebastian apologizes, changing his dirty gloves into immaculate white ones, then helping Ciel down. While Sebastian aids Elizabeth down, Ciel grimaces at the bloody ground, asking if Sebastian could have done it more elegantly, saying he acted "just like a beast". Sebastian then apologizes once again, saying it was an emergency. Sebastian notes that the Bizarre Dolls' bodies are considerably weaker than typical human bodies. Ciel asks how many Bizarre Dolls there are and Sebastian, in response, aims his knives directly at where Rian Stoker is hiding, saying to ask him. Rian, exposed, hastily makes excuses for himself, saying he had not planned on reviving them to such an unhealthy state. He attempts to run, but Sebastian stops him and says he is willing to listen to Rian's story leisurely. Rian blurts out that the ship is divided in the front and in the stern, with a boiler room separating them, thus, there are two freight storages. And in the front storage, he has stored ten times as many samples of Bizarre Dolls as there were here. The front freight storage room appears to be filled with innumerable coffins already opened. Characters in Order of Appearance *Ciel Phantomhive *Elizabeth Midford *Snake *Sebastian Michaelis *Ronald Knox *Rian Stoker Navigation es:Capítulo 54 pl:054. Ten kamerdyner jest niezrównany! it:Capitolo 54 Category:Chapters Category:Luxury Liner Arc